This application relates to a removable handle cover for placement over a handle formed from a wire bail.
Many carriable containers such as buckets, utility trays and the like come with a handle formed from a wire bail. Such wire bails are uncomfortable to hold, particularly when carrying a heavily-loaded bucket or other container. To overcome this difficulty, some buckets or containers are sold with a small plastic tube threaded onto the wire bail. This provides some improvement, but does not fully overcome the problem.
Numerous other designs have also been described for handles which fit over the handles of carriable containers, including those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 614,173, 775,662, 2,654,115, 2,146,415, 2,287,329, 2,294,197, 2,319,147, 2,371,639, 2,398,436, 4,059,867, 4,590,640, 4,982,989, 4,932,702, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 337,053 and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 384,279.
The present invention provides a novel design for a handle cover for fitting over a handle affixed to a carriable container which offers several advantages over prior designs. The handles is designed to fit over the wire bail, whether or not a hollow tubular sleeve through which the wire bail passes is present, and can interact with this sleeve when present. Such interaction not only allows the handle cover to be adaptable to various wire bail handles, but can also provide additional stabilization of the handle cover relative to the bail. The handle cover of the invention comprises first and second body members, wherein
(a) each body member has a first end and a second end and an interior face and an exterior face, and wherein at least the first body member has a channel formed on the interior face of the first body member, said channel comprising two end portions and a central portion disposed between the two ends portions and said channel extending from the first end to the second end of the first body member;
(b) the end portions of the channel have a first width and the central portion of the channel has a second width which is greater than the first width,
(c) the end portions and the central portions are substantially coaxial, whereby the channel can receive a wire bail with a hollow tubular sleeve when the hollow tubular sleeve disposed within the central portion, and
closure means for holding the first and second body members together, with the interior face of the first body member adjacent to the interior face of the second body member.